Who would have thought it? I took a 2 WEEK VACATION! The world did not end (though candidly I have had to go in early every day last week and likely next week in order to catch up!) However, it was worth whatever extra work I need to do now. We all had a fabulous time.
And the best thing? The friends we went with had a blast too. There was zero squabbles. There were 6 of their kids, and 4 of ours and everyone just got along. We shared a giant house with its own pool. I was most worried about Chet as large groups can be over stimulating. And we were spending a lot of time in the Magical Place. Theme parks also can be over stimulating. However we brought sound reducing head phones for him to wear when things started to be too much for him. He was resistant at first to employing them but eventually could see that they really do help.
I remain amazed at how accommodating D^sney is. I brought documentation of Chet's status with us as I was concerned about his ability to maintain in a long line. It turns out that there was a program whereby we could check in at a ride and be given a return time, allowing us to move elsewhere about the park, get a bite to eat, etc and then just return at the scheduled time. Our friends have two children on the spectrum as well so we were all in the same boat and received the same accommodation.
I knew the other kids would have a blast and they did, in all the "typical" and expected ways. It was also magical because Rob was able to be with us for the second week and I know that he hopes to move to the West Coast in the next year or two so this may be the last big family vacation with him. But watching Chet succeed at this, laughing and having a truly wonderful time--that is my great gift. You need to understand that when he was little we could not even go to a small theme park (think Santas Village in NH or Story Land in NH) without horrible meltdowns. I remember him biting me all the way to the car when he was about 8 because he was so overstimulated. I remember being black and blue from being kicked. Admittedly we did not have the correct diagnosis then, but the pain of not being able to share in a beloved parent/child experience was an emotional wound. Now those memories will forever be outshone by two weeks of him laughing and having fun in ways I never knew he could.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sum-sum-summertime!
Summer is my most favorite time of the year. Lissa has been counting down the days to our first campout which is Memorial Day weekend. The weeks before that are busy--Dance recital approaches and KC is very involved again with 5 dances and several speaking parts. There have been extra practices and busy-ness surrounding that.
But the campout is the following weekend, and it sort of glistens out there on the horizons of our consciousness. Much as a water starved person in the desert sees an oasis in the distance, the plans for our campout are that balm to the spirit for us. We have never been to this particular campground, which is also something that appeals to us. We like to try new places and we will be there with good friends.
So that is the official launch to summer. We have a lot of fun all ready on the books so to speak. This year we are after a 2 or 3 year hiatus returning to the community gardens. I can't WAIT to nosh home grown tomatos!
We always go to our citys starburst festival in June, our city's summer stroll (typically KC also dances with the studio at this. It is fun to watch the kids dance in the streets and see bystanders joining in ) We are going to NH with Fiona in June for 2 nights and 3 days. This will be her first vacation with us and it is exciting. We are not camping with Fi. She is not really a camping kind of gal and I think that the fact that sometimes it is hard for her to maintain control and her need for separate space when she is upset make tenting not the best option at this particular juncture. We will be in a condo in the Lakes region of NH. We will hopefully take a boat cruise on one of the large lakes there, visit a wildlife refuge and visit her favorite place of all--the outlet mall. Late in June we are doing Christmas (yes you read that right) with my inlaws. It is odd but we could not all get together at the appropriate time so it will be in June and it will be fun!
July 4th we are hosting an Independence Day BBQ. Friends and family will join us. Later in July we are camping with another group of friends. My wife and Chet and Rob will be with us as well. July is also dance camp for the littles and a weekend quick camping get away for the littles, my wife and I. This is the famous tipi camping place so it is an easy venue and also very close to KC's favorite Christmas themed amusement park. In July our city is having its first ever comic con and it is supposedly family oriented and the kids and i plan on attending this. KC loves to draw comics and anime so I think he will really enjoy this.
August gives us a chance to camp again with another set of friends. This is in a different campground--another new one. This campground places us near a place that will allow Lissa to try horseback riding. She has wanted to do this for so long and most places require you to be 10. I have no idea why; I rode way younger than that! But anyway, this one allows you to ride if you are over 8. The princess is 9 so she and I will go riding during that campout.
There will be more. There will be movies and berry picking, laying and watching meteor showers on blankets and hopefully a mountain or two to climb. As always the docket looks full and rich, with opportunities for new experiences and old favorites alike. I can't wait!
But the campout is the following weekend, and it sort of glistens out there on the horizons of our consciousness. Much as a water starved person in the desert sees an oasis in the distance, the plans for our campout are that balm to the spirit for us. We have never been to this particular campground, which is also something that appeals to us. We like to try new places and we will be there with good friends.
So that is the official launch to summer. We have a lot of fun all ready on the books so to speak. This year we are after a 2 or 3 year hiatus returning to the community gardens. I can't WAIT to nosh home grown tomatos!
We always go to our citys starburst festival in June, our city's summer stroll (typically KC also dances with the studio at this. It is fun to watch the kids dance in the streets and see bystanders joining in ) We are going to NH with Fiona in June for 2 nights and 3 days. This will be her first vacation with us and it is exciting. We are not camping with Fi. She is not really a camping kind of gal and I think that the fact that sometimes it is hard for her to maintain control and her need for separate space when she is upset make tenting not the best option at this particular juncture. We will be in a condo in the Lakes region of NH. We will hopefully take a boat cruise on one of the large lakes there, visit a wildlife refuge and visit her favorite place of all--the outlet mall. Late in June we are doing Christmas (yes you read that right) with my inlaws. It is odd but we could not all get together at the appropriate time so it will be in June and it will be fun!
July 4th we are hosting an Independence Day BBQ. Friends and family will join us. Later in July we are camping with another group of friends. My wife and Chet and Rob will be with us as well. July is also dance camp for the littles and a weekend quick camping get away for the littles, my wife and I. This is the famous tipi camping place so it is an easy venue and also very close to KC's favorite Christmas themed amusement park. In July our city is having its first ever comic con and it is supposedly family oriented and the kids and i plan on attending this. KC loves to draw comics and anime so I think he will really enjoy this.
August gives us a chance to camp again with another set of friends. This is in a different campground--another new one. This campground places us near a place that will allow Lissa to try horseback riding. She has wanted to do this for so long and most places require you to be 10. I have no idea why; I rode way younger than that! But anyway, this one allows you to ride if you are over 8. The princess is 9 so she and I will go riding during that campout.
There will be more. There will be movies and berry picking, laying and watching meteor showers on blankets and hopefully a mountain or two to climb. As always the docket looks full and rich, with opportunities for new experiences and old favorites alike. I can't wait!
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
A dream deferred
Last summer we were invited to go to Disney and camp with good friends of ours. We talked it over and decided to try really hard to make it happen. We knew it would not be easy. My job did not give raises last year, though our family expenses rose with braces and other things of a similar, non luxury area.
The kids knew then it was an effort, but I know that even more than I do, my kids sail their ships with positivity. Tonight they will learn that we need to defer this plan for another year. Our van just needed very substantial work and at over $1000 it is still not totally finished yet. My car needs work I have not even brought it in for but that will also be in the same vicinity. (note to self: convince KC or Lissa to become a mechanic. They will live well!) We had a big plumbing issue this Christmas and there is more plumbing yet to address.
We took our Florida savings and paid for the plumbing and the van repair. It would be silly to incur finance charge or interest fees when we had the money--although it was intended for something a lot sexier than pipes and brakes!
I am really sad too, but I am looking at this as an important life lesson for the kids. There are times you have to recalibrate. When your most desired dream has to be accomplished at another time or in another way. I hope that in time, they will see that as well.
The kids knew then it was an effort, but I know that even more than I do, my kids sail their ships with positivity. Tonight they will learn that we need to defer this plan for another year. Our van just needed very substantial work and at over $1000 it is still not totally finished yet. My car needs work I have not even brought it in for but that will also be in the same vicinity. (note to self: convince KC or Lissa to become a mechanic. They will live well!) We had a big plumbing issue this Christmas and there is more plumbing yet to address.
We took our Florida savings and paid for the plumbing and the van repair. It would be silly to incur finance charge or interest fees when we had the money--although it was intended for something a lot sexier than pipes and brakes!
I am really sad too, but I am looking at this as an important life lesson for the kids. There are times you have to recalibrate. When your most desired dream has to be accomplished at another time or in another way. I hope that in time, they will see that as well.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Long Range Planning
A couple of weeks ago I was hanging out with my friends Des and Eric at the local roller rink. Our kids all have free passes for skating so the parents were chatting, while the kiddos did their thing on the rink. Actually the odd thing is that I was not skating with them as I love roller skating and usually do. And if I had, well the conversation might not have happened. . .
Des said that their family was going to Disney in October of 2016 and camping at the Disney campground. They would love it if our family could come along too as we are one of the few families they love to do camping with. We like to do things together, but I am not a "joined at the hip" kind of person. If something doesn't fit my family, I just do something else and hook up later. They love that as sometimes other friends have been a bit clingy and needy.
But, my company did not give raises this year. And I have a guy in college. So this required a lot of thought and looking at the budget. It required talking with my wife, whom I know HATES Florida with a passion. I did both though, and I think we might be able to pull it off. We don't have a camper but I can rent one down there for way less than the cost of renting a house and the campground looks fun and like a place all the kids would enjoy.
I have also begun discussions with Fiona's group home about working with me to make a plan for her to come down for part of the week so that she too gets a Disney experience. She has wanted this her whole life--what kid doesn't? In typical form, the head basically said gee, go ahead and take her on a trip. I said, whoa, wait a minute. It is more than that. I have researched and she is entitled to a vacation whether or not our family was going. Therefore, I expect there to be a plan for accompanying her and helping her to succeed. She may become overwhelmed and need to take space. She may want to do something at the park that the younger kids don't want to do. Those options need to be planned for. There was a bit of stunned silence at the end of the phone but then the head of the program agreed and said that they would be happy to contact the rest of the team and begin working on this. I so hope it plays out well. I have also been clear to them that Fiona is to know NOTHING about this. It is way too far away and the anticipation will not be anything she can begin to deal with.
Des said that their family was going to Disney in October of 2016 and camping at the Disney campground. They would love it if our family could come along too as we are one of the few families they love to do camping with. We like to do things together, but I am not a "joined at the hip" kind of person. If something doesn't fit my family, I just do something else and hook up later. They love that as sometimes other friends have been a bit clingy and needy.
But, my company did not give raises this year. And I have a guy in college. So this required a lot of thought and looking at the budget. It required talking with my wife, whom I know HATES Florida with a passion. I did both though, and I think we might be able to pull it off. We don't have a camper but I can rent one down there for way less than the cost of renting a house and the campground looks fun and like a place all the kids would enjoy.
I have also begun discussions with Fiona's group home about working with me to make a plan for her to come down for part of the week so that she too gets a Disney experience. She has wanted this her whole life--what kid doesn't? In typical form, the head basically said gee, go ahead and take her on a trip. I said, whoa, wait a minute. It is more than that. I have researched and she is entitled to a vacation whether or not our family was going. Therefore, I expect there to be a plan for accompanying her and helping her to succeed. She may become overwhelmed and need to take space. She may want to do something at the park that the younger kids don't want to do. Those options need to be planned for. There was a bit of stunned silence at the end of the phone but then the head of the program agreed and said that they would be happy to contact the rest of the team and begin working on this. I so hope it plays out well. I have also been clear to them that Fiona is to know NOTHING about this. It is way too far away and the anticipation will not be anything she can begin to deal with.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Camping Fun, nearly done
We are back from our ocean campout and had so much fun. It was a day shorter than we had hoped, but that day allowed KC to recuperate from his strep throat. Well worth it, as even the first day I found that he was more tired than is typical. We had lots of beach and pool time, spent time with my mom and her significant other and went to an oceanside amusement park in the evening. The kids love to do that as things look cool with the lights on and the dark skies. All told, since Memorial Day I have camped with them 5 times and our last time will be with our folds from church in mid September. . Today I washed and got things organized and put away--much of our usual gear will not be needed for that final campout as we do not need to cook for that one. I love camping and the kids have definately been bitten by my camping bug.
I think my wife is less in love with it than i am. She is a lover of creature comforts and like the Hermit Crab, tries to carry her house with her to the campsite so to speak. I am all about sitting on a rock or a log and not packing chairs. I want the least amount of stuff so I can spend the maximum amount of time doing things. And then there is that phrase "doing things" My wife likes to sit and knit at the campsite where the kids and I are always off hiking, swimming or looking for adventures of some sort.
Emotionally I was so not ready to come home today. The sea and salt air called to me. The song of the pine trees overhead begged me to stay. But grown up responsibilities call and home we came. And as I was cleaning gear up I was all ready planning next years campouts in my head.
I think my wife is less in love with it than i am. She is a lover of creature comforts and like the Hermit Crab, tries to carry her house with her to the campsite so to speak. I am all about sitting on a rock or a log and not packing chairs. I want the least amount of stuff so I can spend the maximum amount of time doing things. And then there is that phrase "doing things" My wife likes to sit and knit at the campsite where the kids and I are always off hiking, swimming or looking for adventures of some sort.
Emotionally I was so not ready to come home today. The sea and salt air called to me. The song of the pine trees overhead begged me to stay. But grown up responsibilities call and home we came. And as I was cleaning gear up I was all ready planning next years campouts in my head.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Farewell Vacation!
I love the picture above, even though I think I have used it all ready on the blog. But in the not too distant past I would have thought that this picture was not attainable. All of us routinely together on holidays? But the Great School helped Fiona so much. She still has severe issues and probably always will, but pictures like this are myriad now in my photos.
I toured a really great day program for Fiona while I was on vacation. I am not sure if it will work or not because the program is not allowed to administer medications. She has a psych med she takes three times a day. I hope that perhaps there are adjustments that could be made that would allow her to participate in this. The program has a learning component for adults who wish to expand their learning, a job readiness component (and they have a lot of connections in the community with employers who hire their people) an art component with a ceramics studio, a fiber arts center, a wet media room, and more. There is a fitness room as well as a cafe for just gathering. It has a school like set up where the participants choose with help their 4 focusses for each semester. I SO hope this works out for her as it would greatly expand her horizons. The program needs to review her information and her psychiatrist has to look at the medication issue but it is at least a potentiality for 2015 to have a great opportunity for her.
The kids and I have had a lot of fun playing the games our family got for Christmas. Games are always family games so no one person has ownership. We have rocked out to Dance Revolution 2015, played Slamwich, Nada and Super Farkle. Oh and Scrabble Slam which is a lot of fun as well. In our house, games that you can do in about 15 minutes with a max of about 30 minutes are the best fit for our schedules. All of these work well within those constraints.
I've marshalled the troops and they have happily spent a lot of time helping to undecorate our house and put up our snowman collection and tidy various messy spots within our home. A family our size and a home our size seems to make a lot of messy spots. I wish I kept up with that better but at least twice a year I get a chance to hoe through things really thoroughly, usually in winter and again once in the summer.
My wife was able to take the kids in to the city to see our friend Jane Houghton's art show at the Hanover. She is an amazing artist and has taught our KC so much and continues to foster his artistic leanings. The kids loved the show and her amazing mixed media work.
We read our 2014 memories together over supper the other night and enjoyed that too. All year long when something happens that we want to remember, a family member grabs an index card, jots it down and puts it in an envelope that hangs on our kitchen wall. They can be big things or little things. Campouts, seeing ducks crossing the road near our street, sunsets rainbows, and physical achievements--anything can be written down. It was fun to recount them together and to wonder what new things the year will hold.
I know that January is going to be very hectic at work and that on the 20th Rob will head back to school for the next semester. Part of me feels very unready to launch back into the crazy. But I know that once it has been going for a few days, it will be normal again, and I will at least be entering it with a more rested frame of mind than I have had in a long time.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Can we do disney?
K and I have been talking about trying to take the family to Disney in 2016. I have spoken to a friend who works for an agency similar to the agency where Fiona lives. She has given me lots of tips on how best to bring Fiona to Florida, what kind of supports the agency has to give her and more. I had NO idea that they really are supposed to provide a staff if I request it for her to make the trip. I thought I would have to figure out how to pay someone out of pocket. There are lots of details and financials to figure out so only Rob knows that we are thinking about this. It is way to far away for Fiona to hear about it and I want to confer with her home agency once I know that I can definately save what I need to for the trip. We would rent a house again and we would not spend every day at Disney as that is too much for most of my kids and most definately too much for my wife. I really want to do this though as it has been Fi's dream every since I have known her to go to Disney. It might be the last time all the kids would be together as it would be as Rob was finishing up school, so it would be a good time to do it. Lots to think about and plan though in order for it to happen.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Vacation inches closer!
Friday!!!!! This is my last day of work before vacation. Well not really as I am going into the office on Saturday for a few hours. But my last official day and i am so excited. I have fun doing anything with my kids but a big trip to sunny Florida? Woo hoo! I am SO ready. We have carry ons about packed and Monday I will do the banking. We are not charging anything. I am real proud of that as I have saved and scrimped for this experience for 2 full years. And in a way, the idea of renting a house really came from the blog world. I read about the trip that a bunch of adoptive moms took to Florida 2 years ago and discovered they rented gorgeous houses. Saw pictures. Drooled. Talked to a friend who had also rented a house. And took the plunge. I am hoping it helps my oldest to stay more centered during the trip. As excited as I am, and as excited as Chet is, a week of new experiences and changes in routine for him is a lot.
We have one day planned to do nothing. Just hang at the house and play in the pool and the game room and chill. It was hard for me to cross going to the place with zip lines off my list of things to do. (I am not joking!!) But there will be other times and other zip lines, and I want to do everything I can to help him be successful.
We have finished up all our piece work to turn into the local factory today so that is all set for our leave taking as well. My wife has found one 3 hour job on Saturdays that will start sometime after our return from vacation. And she has an interview on Monday the night before we leave, for a second. Tonight Rob and his girl friend will get to hang out for a few hours so that the two of them will be able to survive a week apart. And Saturday is the Kentucky Derby. Life doesn't get much better!
We have one day planned to do nothing. Just hang at the house and play in the pool and the game room and chill. It was hard for me to cross going to the place with zip lines off my list of things to do. (I am not joking!!) But there will be other times and other zip lines, and I want to do everything I can to help him be successful.
We have finished up all our piece work to turn into the local factory today so that is all set for our leave taking as well. My wife has found one 3 hour job on Saturdays that will start sometime after our return from vacation. And she has an interview on Monday the night before we leave, for a second. Tonight Rob and his girl friend will get to hang out for a few hours so that the two of them will be able to survive a week apart. And Saturday is the Kentucky Derby. Life doesn't get much better!
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